Māori Party’s head in the clouds

The Māori Party is full
of hollow talk over the government’s decision not to
support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
says Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.

Contrary to
a number of misleading claims by the party’s co-leaders
today, the New Zealand government did not vote against a
move at the United Nations to outlaw discrimination against
indigenous peoples.

“Nor does the government accept
Tariana Turia’s ridiculous claim that this government
believes indigenous people are “sub-human with only
sub-human rights” – which I, and no doubt my Māori
caucus colleagues, frankly find offensive.”

The
declaration adopted in the UN yesterday is in effect a wish
list which fails to bind states to any of its provisions, Mr
Horomia said.

“This means it is toothless. I’m
actually more than a little surprised the Māori Party is
prepared to back something which effectively offers
indigenous peoples no more than aspirational
statements.”

Our government has worked extremely hard
over a number of years to help forge a declaration which
protects and promotes the rights of indigenous peoples in a
meaningful way – and which states could actually
implement, Mr Horomia said.

“The declaration adopted
does neither and while we are proud of our efforts, we are
deeply disappointed with the final result which we could not
support.”

“There are four provisions we have problems
with, which make the declaration fundamentally incompatible
with New Zealand’s constitutional and legal arrangements
and established Treaty settlement policy.”

Article 26 of
the Declaration states that indigenous peoples have the
right to the lands, territories and resources they have
traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
For New Zealand this covers potentially the entire country.

“It appears to require recognition of rights to lands
now lawfully owned by other citizens, both indigenous and
non-indigenous. This ignores contemporary reality and would
be impossible to implement,” Mr Horomia said.

“The
declaration also implies that indigenous people should have
a right of veto over parliamentary law-making.”

The
government strongly supports the full and active engagement
of indigenous people in democratic decision-making
processes. But these articles imply different classes of
citizenship, where indigenous peoples have veto rights not
held by others, Mr Horomia said.

“Indigenous rights in
New Zealand are of profound importance. The Treaty of
Waitangi is the founding document of this country and we
have an unparalleled system for redress. Nearly 40 per cent
of New Zealand fishing quota is owned by Maori and claims to
over half of the country’s land area have been
settled.

“We also have some of the most extensive
consultation mechanisms in the world, where the principles
of the Treaty of Waitangi, including the principle of
informed consent, are enshrined in resource management law.

“The Labour-led government is focused on pursuing goals
which achieve real results for real people. It’s about
time the Māori Party got its head out of the clouds and
focused on achieving some real milestones, rather than
pie-in-the-sky talk which won’t make a jot of difference
in our peoples’
lives.”

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